naff ?

[kerryblu]

Hi all,
When I got the car in boxes(S4 70) the PO left it in reverse so after removing gear-leaver cover plate I pulled back the thin rod backwards into neutral , but now that the car is ready for the road, she wouldn't select reverse, which I thought was by 2nd so it might need bleeding again or the slave rod might need ajusting.

[garyeanderson]

OK let go back to where the fart was let.

You pull up on the gear lever with the clutch depressed and pull it into reverse.

DOES the box grind like its selecting reverse or you just find Second gear.

re-read the following give up some info.

Do you have a solid clutch pedal and if so all the other gears go in without grinding?

no on can help without you helping some, we can only tell you all of the causes and then its up to you to decearn the rela problem.

Gary

http://www.lotuselan.net/cgi-bin/search ... oom_sort=0

elan-f14/gearbox-woes-t15201.html

http://www.lotuselan.net/cgi-bin/search ... oom_sort=0

elan-f15/speed-gear-selection-problem-t19254.html

[kerryblu]

No there is on grinding,all gears go in with very little trouble, there was no gasket between the cup-shifter and box ,or may be I tightend it up to much.

[garyeanderson]

No there is on grinding,all gears go in with very little trouble, there was no gasket between the cup-shifter and box ,or may be I tightend it up to much.

un-screw the shifter cap 2 or 3 turns and try it.

When I put the shifter back in the box is in reverse and the shifter is too. this way you can guide the selector into the slot and be sure it goes where you are trying to put it.

If you look at this photo you can see how much of a gap there is between the shifter cap and the shifter base. I think that this a a standard Ford non-integral remote shifter cap. The standard lotus is a direct shifter cap from the Cortina (which is a taller cap) with the long gear stick. "If" you have the wrong one installed it will give you problems just like you are having. After 40 years bits that come in a box don't nesessary come from the original car.

[mac5777]

Gary is right about backing off a bit. I had a problem twice over the years of not being able to shift into reverse. All I could see was the cost to remove the engine to repair or replace a bad transmission. My plastic cup shifter had loosen. It was solved by tightening the cap and it was fine after that. If I tighten it too much, everything got real tight and it was too stiff to shift easily. Backed off a bit and everything was fine again. At least now, if things start to get a little sloppy, I know how to correct it before I loose reverse. There should be a product that I can apply to the threads to keep it from loosening up.
RD Enterprises has a metal one that may stay put.
Happy New Year to All
Sarto

[elansprint71]

Edit-
The archive is a wonderful resource.

[jimj]

yawn

[kerryblu]

Hi,
spent the morning moving the cup up and down, even with the engine running still couldn't engage reverse, though I could fill the teeth of the cog tapping at the gear leaver arm. Looking at the WSM I have the same fitting as shown there sec. f page 5 the only thing I'm not sure of is the pin under the gasket?. Still took her for a spin 4 miles, started to miss-fire , when at home small amount of oil on top of drivers footwell box, and no oil in rear air valve (stromberg carbs), and no oil on the diaphragm, any conclusions?

thanks all.

Gerald.

[garyeanderson]

Hi Gerald

One more link to look at to make sure that the shifter cap you have is the right one.

elan-f15/transmission-woes-t18355.html

if you have the wrong one it will need to be unscrewed quite a few turns to engage.

the pin it the diagram in the workshop manual is a needle roller bearing from the layshaft (same part number) that is used to keep the reverse foot (dangler?) from dropping into the box. The shifter cap when tightened keeps it from coming out. If the foot is not located properly in the reverse shift rail it won't shift into reverse.

Gary

[oldelanman]

Hi Gerald,
It could be that the reverse light switch is restricting the movement of the reverse rail and preventing engagement of the gear. Try backing it out a bit - if you can get to it !

As for the carburettor problem - rapid loss of the dashpot damper oil will occur if the needle adjuster plug "O" ring is damaged and the oil will be sucked into the engine. Could the small puddle of oil you have on the footwell be from the engine breather ? If you still have the original breather pipe from head to air box, perhaps it's not inserted properly into the airbox.

Regards,

[kerryblu]

Hi again,
Spent the afternoon on it again, no joy, conclusion, can get 1 2 3 4 gears no trouble,can get the foot to go in the reversr rail, but cannot get the rail to go forword to engage r/gear,either the reverse light switch as mention is stoping it or reverse selector is gone. On the carbs, my carbs don't have "O" rings on them, so still can't see why the oil gose.

thanks for all the help.
Gerald.

[oldelanman]

On the carbs, my carbs don't have "O" rings on them, so still can't see why the oil gose.

Gerald, Are you sure ?? Is that because you have fixed needles and not adjustable ones ? I don't know what the fixed needle set-up is but if you have adjustable needles and no "O" rings you will definitely lose the dashpot oil !

Regards,

[kerryblu]

Roger,
thanks for the foto, I looked at my air valve, it had a screw to hold the needle in place,so I undid it but nothing happened the needle didn't move, I will go out there now and try to push the brass part up the tube with the needle in place (just nervous).

Gary thanks for your foto as well, after parts of 3 days I see how it should work, all gears click into place, but the reverse seems to hit something metal that stops it going in. I undid the r/ light switch, but that made no diference.

thanks again to all.

Gerald.

[oldelanman]

Roger,
thanks for the foto, I looked at my air valve, it had a screw to hold the needle in place,so I undid it but nothing happened the needle didn't move, I will go out there now and try to push the brass part up the tube with the needle in place (just nervous).

The grub screw stops the needle rotating but does not release it from the air valve - you need to fully undo the adjuster as well.

This link describes how to remove the needle adjuster plug which has the "O" ring on it....http://faq.saabnet.ru/saab_carbs/6_misc.pdf

You need to fully unscrew the adjuster first and withdraw the needle and carrier from the bottom of the air valve, then proceed as per instructions in the link. Take care not to damage the star clip that holds the adjuster plug.

Regards,

[kerryblu]

Hi Roger,
did the job, only when the 1st one was out I could see the allen key hole, all worked out OK except for the lip that holds in the needle and spring on one of them, so I had to improvise to keep it in its place.Still can't engage reverse though

thanks for all the help.

Gerald.